


Everybody digs a swingin’ cat

by Veto_power_over_clocks



Category: Marvel (Comics), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl
Genre: Gen, Set between Age of Ultron and Civil War, There's a cat. It's very important.
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-23
Updated: 2016-05-22
Packaged: 2018-06-10 04:29:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6939838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Veto_power_over_clocks/pseuds/Veto_power_over_clocks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There's a cat on top of a tree. In fiction, this is supposed to lead an amusing situation, but Vision doesn't find the humor in a malnourished cat meowing pleadingly. Maybe there's something he isn't seeing? He will ask Wanda about it later. First he has to get the cat down. Then he has to figure out how to be a responsible cat owner.</p>
<p>(The fic where Vision gets a cat. Humanity ensues.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Everybody digs a swingin’ cat

**Author's Note:**

  * For [natbrowniecupcakes](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=natbrowniecupcakes).



> Look, I came out of Civil War shipping Wanda and Vision a lot, but I was a bit pissed off about how there were some comments about Vision's feelings for Wanda leading to him being more human-like. I just feel there are many other ways to develop human-like emotions.
> 
> You know what's very human too? Having a pet.
> 
> So I gave him a cat.
> 
> I also put Nancy Whitehead (from "The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl", please read that comic, it's good) here, because she and cats are forever linked in my head.
> 
> The title is from "Everybody Wants To Be A Cat".
> 
> (Natalie, this is for you, for helping me with the cat's name and for not complaining while I died in the cinema when we went to see Civil War. And also because you're an awesome friend and you deserve to be given things.)

The new Avengers facility was surrounded by trees. It was a nice environment, probably meant to boost morale and provide a calming atmosphere, but Vision didn’t think it was a good idea to be there. He pointed out to Mr. Stark that when a villain attacked them – because, considering who they were, there was no doubt that they’d be attacked, the question was when it would happen – they’d find themselves with a destroyed building and a forest fire.

Mr. Stark promised they had safeguards to prevent that and, after spending half an hour telling Vision all about them, he suggested that Vision took a walk around the place, so he could see for himself how safe everything was.

And so, Vision went to see the trees up close.

He liked them. They did create a nice, calming environment. He floated around, just a few inches above the ground, familiarizing himself with the forest, which he considered as an extension of the base. He was attentively studying the pattern of a spiderweb when he heard a cat above him.

He looked up, checking the branches, until he saw the small thing curled on itself, meowing pleadingly.

Vision floated up to get a better look. The cat wasn’t yet an adult, but it was too big to be called a kitten. Its fur was a dull grey, matted with mud and dirt, there were some bald patches on its back, its left ear was missing a chunk, and Vision could see the contours of its ribs. It didn’t have a collar.

He couldn’t imagine how the animal had found its way so far from the city at such a young age, nor how it could still have enough strength left to hiss at Vision and try to scratch him when he tried to touch it, but those details were irrelevant, considering that the cat would most definitely die if left alone.

Vision picked it – he, the cat was clearly a ‘he’ – up, held him like he’d seen other people pick up cats and flew back to the base, the cat twisting in his arms, trying to dig his claws into his skin.

Usually, Vision didn’t bother with doors. He could go through walls, therefore, he didn’t see any point in going around looking for an entrance when he could just go in directly. Since he couldn’t do that with the cat, he went through the nearest open window, which happened to lead into the living room.

“That’s new,” Wanda said when she saw him come in. “Maybe next time you’ll go through the door.” Her tone was light and there was a small smile on her face, so Vision assumed she wasn’t being mean, that she was... teasing.

She'd explained that teasing is well-meaning in nature. Friendly. She’d told him that teasing could be answered with more teasing, or maybe a jokingly self-deprecating comment, or with some sarcasm, and they'd been practicing during their conversations - Wanda was trying to help him with humor. On any other day, he would have tried to come up with a good answer to her teasing, but that day…

“I have a cat,” he said.

Her eyes went from his face to his arms, widening, and in a moment she was at his side, whispering soothing words to the cat.

“Where did you find it?” she asked, looking up at him again.

“On a tree. I don’t know how he got there.”

“He needs… maybe one of the scientists here knows about animals.”

She started walking away, and Vision followed her to the labs, where she cleared her throat and said, loud enough to be heard by everyone in the place, “Hey! Sorry to interrupt. Is anyone here a vet? We have a cat here… it-”

“He,” Vision whispered.

“He,” Wanda amended, “is injured, and malnourished. Can anyone help?”

A tall man raised his hand at the back of the room. They made their way to him.

The man was well-built, his physique more similar to what Vision had seen on those wrestling matches that Agent Romanoff watched on her free time. He was also wearing a pizza deliverer uniform.

Vision looked questioningly at the scientists around them.

“It’s lunch time,” one of them said, shrugging. “And it’s not like our location’s a secret, what with Google Earth and everything.”

The man looked over at the cat and offered to drive them back into the city in his delivery van. He left Vision and the cat at a veterinary clinic and took Wanda to buy cat food.

The veterinary took one look at the cat and took him from Vision’s arms, leaving him to wait. There were other people in the waiting room, all of them pretending not to stare at him, and not-so-subtly taking pictures with their phones. Well, all of them but a woman with a cat of her own.

“What happened to him?” she asked him, pointing with her head towards the door that the veterinary had gone through.

“I don’t know. I found him on a tree.”

She narrowed her eyes at him, as if trying to figure out if he was lying, then nodded and pointed to the chair next to her.

He sat down and tried to find something to do. He watched as the woman scratched her cat behind the ears. Vision couldn’t help but look - he found the contrast between the cat’s white fur and the woman’s dark skin aesthetically pleasant, and so he wanted to commit the image to memory.

“He’ll be fine,” the woman said, bringing Vision’s attention to her, probably misreading his interest as worry.

“I hope so. He was in a very bad condition when I found him.”

“Cats are tough. You just gotta make sure he doesn’t end up like that ever again.” There was an edge to her voice, as if implying that she’d find him if anything happened to the cat.

“I will try. I don’t know how to take care of an animal, though.”

“There are books. And blogs.”

“Can you recommend me some?”

She seemed to think about it.

“Do you have anything I can write on?”

“You can just tell me. My memory’s very good.”

“Okay.”

Her list of recommendations was seventeen items long. Vision would have to stop by the bookshop before going home.

“Thank you very much for your help,” Vision said. “I’m sorry, I haven’t introduced myself. I’m Vision.”

He offered her a hand. She stared at him for a second before shaking it.

“Yeah, I know. I'm Nancy Whitehead." She gave him a hard look that he didn't understand and seemed to wait for something. Maybe some comment. He didn't have anything to say. "This is Mew,” she continued, pointing at her cat.

She seemed about to say something else when Wanda and the pizza deliverer came in, carrying a plastic bag and a sack of cat food.

“We got him a bed,” Wanda said, approaching them. “Any news?”

“Not yet.”

The pizza deliverer looked uncomfortable.

“Look,” he started, “I should have been back at my job already. Can you put in a good word for me? Or send a message? I don’t want to get fired.”

“Sure,” Wanda said. “Give me your phone.”

The man handed them his phone. Wanda opened the camera and started recording.

“Hi, I’m Wanda, and this is Vision,” she said pointing the camera towards him. “Please be nice to Damon, he was helping us today. We’ll make up for any problems we might have caused. He was a great asset. Thank you.” She smiled sweetly before turning off the camera. “That should do it. Thanks again.”

“No, thanks to you!” Damon said before leaving.

Something occurred to Vision.

“Excuse me, Wanda, but how will we return to the base?”

“I called Steve. He’s sending an agent with a car.”

“Oh. Good. Thank you, Wanda.”

“Hey,” Nancy said. “Can I take a picture of you two holding Mew?”

Wanda blinked a couple of times, bemused.

“Sure?”

“Good. Here.” Nancy put Mew on Vision’s lap and stood. The cat didn’t seem to mind changing places, and just curled on Vision's lap to sleep. Wanda sat on Nancy’s chair.

Nancy took a dozen pictures of them and Mew, and there weren’t more because the veterinary came out and called them.

They said goodbye to Nancy, who gave them her Instagram username so they could see the pictures.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> My writing blog is veto-power-over-fanworks.tumblr.com if you want to request anything.


End file.
